Helping to support students who lost everything in the Oregon wildfires

Dec. 21, 2020

Video

Helping those in need after wildfires

Video transcript

Upbeat music plays as text slides in over the rusted, charred remains of a building.

ON SCREEN TEXT: Mill City, Oregon

Broken pieces of furniture lie scattered atop a mound of gray ash. Beyond a pile of bent metal covered in rust rests a roofless building. A teenager with long brown hair and an American flag face mask interviews as text appears.

ON SCREEN TEXT: Cassidy Olson

Student – Santiam Canyon School District

CASSIDY OLSON: We’ve seen pictures and everything, and we just came here two days after.

A taller teen stands beside Cassidy, wearing a mint green face mask. Text slides in as she talks.

ON SCREEN TEXT: Bailey Olson

Student – Santiam canyon School District

BAILEY OLSON: I was in shock, and kind of denying the fact that I lost everything.

Two charred propane tanks marked with spray painted X’s rest beside the remains of an exercise bike. Ash fills the concrete foundation of a former home. A banner of white text slides down over the damaged site.

ON SCREEN TEXT: Cassidy and Bailey’s

home was among

the 4,000 houses

and 1.2 million acres

destroyed by the

September Oregon

wildfires.

More text appears over concrete bricks, misshapen metal, and chunks of siding.

ON SCREEN TEXT: Their school in the

Santiam Canyon

community also

received a large

amount of smoke

damage.

A blonde woman stands beside a road, holding a document. Text slides in.

ON SCREEN TEXT: Angela Rasmussen

Principal – Santiam Canyon School District

RASMUSSEN: The immediate impact for our students was just how we were going to start school, knowing that we had students who had no place to learn from. Right now, we are in distanced learning and students can’t be in our building. Before the fires, we ordered 20 hotspots for families that had connectivity issues, we’re up to about 80 right now, and that number keeps growing every day.

A woman with bangs works at a small desk beside a counter. Another woman in a maroon sweater video chats at a desk positioned beside a sink. A charred motorcycle stands upright, but its front wheel lies sideways. Heaps of ruined belongings liter the lawn surrounding the roofless building. A rusted tricycle sits on the pavement.

RASMUSSEN: In the days after the wildfire, people wanted to donate to our students and to our school, and so the idea of the Wildfire Needy Kids Fund came from that.

A damaged swing set rests in front of a tree without any long branches. Cassidy and Bailey keep their hands in their pockets as they chat with a bald man.

RASMUSSEN: Our kids are still kids, they lost their PlayStations, they lost their basketballs, they lost their curling irons and their nail polish, and they lost everything that makes them a kid, and in some cases things that they worked really, really, hard to save up for to be able to buy those things. The Needy Kids Fund is filling that void.

In the same space as the women working at their desks, stacks of books fill a table. Coloring supplies rest in bins nearby. The bald man interviews as text slides in.

ON SCREEN TEXT: Gary Daniels

UnitedHealthcare – CEO Washington, Oregon

DANIELS: We provided about 500 meals to individuals that were evacuated out of this community. The great thing about working at UnitedHealthcare with a great team in Oregon, it was, “What else can we do?” It’s something that I couldn’t be more excited to reach out to and learn about how we can support them through the Needy Kids Fund.

A worn trampoline stands in front of rubble left from the fire. A vertical banner slides down with text.

ON SCREEN TEXT: UnitedHealthcare

donated $25,000

to the Wildfire Needy

Kids fund, helping

students get supplies

and technological

resources for virtual

learning.

A woman in a thin coat with a thin black and gray coat interviews as text appears.

ON SCREEN TEXT: Debbie Fawcett

Teacher & Parent

FAWCETT: The Needy Kids Fund is helping my family by helping with hotspots, bringing out supplies to us. Without that we would have no access to any type of online schooling.

In a mobile home, a teenage girl in glasses sits at a table, smiling at her laptop. Debbie and Gary stare at the front steps of a completely leveled home.

DANIELS: The DNA that’s really kind of spread through our enterprise around serving our communities, we make sure that we can support the people that need it the most.

Angela sets down a rolled blanket as she crouches beside a group of brand-new backpacks. She reaches for a floral print one.

BAILEY OLSON: We probably wouldn’t be as far as we have come along without the support and the help from everyone in the community.

CASSIDY OLSON: It is just amazing, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

A blue logo appears over a white background.

ON SCREEN TEXT: United Healthcare

Cassidy and Bailey Olson have been through their share of ups and downs, but nothing could have prepared the sisters for the night flames ripped through their home. They lost everything in one of Oregon’s most devastating wildfires.

When they returned two days later, all that remained were ashes and memories of the times they shared in their childhood home. They couldn’t believe their eyes.

“It's getting easier, but when I first came, I was in shock and kind of denying the fact that I lost everything,” Bailey said.

“I lived here since I was practically born,” Cassidy said. “So, it's kind of hard. There are rough days, but you just have to think of the future.”

The September wildfires destroyed 1.2 million acres and more than 4,000 homes, including the one Cassidy and Bailey shared with their grandmother in the Mill City community. They are now living in a rental home, while determining next steps.

The Olson sisters are students in the Santiam Canyon School District, which serves 510 students. About 70 students and staff lost their homes in the wildfires. Beyond the challenges of starting over, students are also struggling to access the internet for virtual learning, purchase new clothing and replace other essentials they lost in the fires.

“In the days after the wildfire, several people reached out to donate to our students, which led to the creation of the Wildfire Needy Kids Fund,” said Angela Rasmussen, the principal of Santiam Jr./Sr. High School. “We have to remember that our kids are still teenagers. They lost everything that makes them a kid. The Needy Kids Fund is helping to fill that void.”

UnitedHealthcare donated $25,000 to the Wildfire Needy Kids Fund. The donation will help students with technological needs for virtual learning and replace clothes and other personal belongings.

“The Needy Kids Fund is showing me that even though I lost everything, there still is something,” Cassidy said. “There's hope. It’s amazing and I couldn't be more grateful.”

For Gary Daniels, UnitedHealthcare CEO of Oregon and Washington, the donation hits home. Growing up in the community, he said he’s incredibly proud to see firsthand how the company is able to help others in their time of need. In addition to supporting the Wildfire Needy Kids Fund, UnitedHealthcare provided hundreds of meals to families when they were forced to evacuate their homes.

“It was great to get back to my roots and support this proud community that is important to so many Oregonians,” he said. “At UnitedHealthcare it’s in our DNA to serve our communities in real time moments of anguish, such as this fire. I’m proud that our team acted in the moment, reached out and supported the people who need it the most.”

Students say the help they’ve received has made a world of difference.

“It’s greatly appreciated,” Bailey said. “We probably wouldn't be as far as we are without the support and the help from everyone in the community.”

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